CHRISTMAS WISH LIST

The number one item on both my Christmas list and birthday list: STRAWBERRY PAPER TOWELS. My kitchen is decorated with strawberries and I'm obsessive-compulsive enough to want everything to match.   For years Bounty and Mardi Gras offered them but over the years it became increasingly difficult to find them.  Gerald even checked E-Bay and other internet sites to no avail.

One birthday several years ago my niece had given me an exquisite piece of Waterford which I believe that I showed proper appreciation for it.

When my sister-in-law and niece from Gerald's side of the family came to the party, one was carrying a large, black, trash bag with a red bow tied around the top.

I immediately knew what was in it and I let out an exhilarated whoop: "Strawberry paper towels!";   the bag contained 26 rolls--a roll a week for half the year--of course I was excited!

The next time I was alone with my niece she asked if I had really liked the Waterford and I said that I cherish it. She then said she couldn't believe the way I'd acted about the strawberry paper towels and that I seemed more excited about those than I did the Waterford.

OH, MY!

I explained that I knew that the Waterford was far more costly than the paper towels but I also knew that the others had also wanted to give me something I would truly appreciate and it was "our thing"!   I continued and told her that the sister-in-law and her daughter had searched for 6 months because they had given me a bag of 26 rolls of paper towels at Christmas and it was a challenge to find 26 more rolls.

My sister-in-law called today and said, "I haven't been able to find any strawberry paper towels;   how about if I get you an Olive Garden gift certificate?"

She and I have an ongoing joke:  although we LOVE to receive gift certificates, we hate to GIVE gift certificates because people know how much we've spent on them!

This year I have been able to find strawberry paper towels at Save a Lot stores.  While we were in Florida and North Carolina this past summer,  I went to numerous Save a Lot stores and returned home with THIRTY-SIX rolls!  The trunk of the car was filled with bags of paper towels and the luggage was piled in the back seat!